1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to prerecorded instructional materials and methods of instruction and, more particularly, this invention relates to a prerecorded magnetic tape and a method of use for instructional purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of prerecorded materials in teaching is well known. Such materials are useful in programmed learning, the teaching of dialog conversation, and in foreign language instruction, for example.
Prior prerecorded materials useful in language teaching, for example, are exemplified by Dostert U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,901 issued Jan. 5, 1957 and Yamamoto U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,954 issued Feb. 20, 1979. Each of these prior patents discloses a method of teaching a foreign language wherein a recorded phrase in a first language is followed by an equivalent recorded phrase in a second language.
Dostert U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,901 discloses that the intensity of alternate phrases are received by respective earphones can be regulated in order to emphasize one language relative to another, and that the series of phrases may be recorded on respective tracks of a two track magnetic tape.
Yamamoto U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,954 discloses a magnetic tape having at least one pair of two adjacent tracks with prerecorded spoken phrases in different languages on respective tracks, with intermediate sections between phrases on each track. The phrases on one track are staggered with respect to phrases on an adjacent track.
The intermediate sections between recorded phrases may contain recorded background sounds, such as music, in order to mask undesirable low volume sounds magnetically induced from the recorded sections of an adjacent track. The structure of the type of prior magnetic tape disclosed in the Yamamoto patent is described below in connection with FIG. 1.
Heretofore there has not been available a prerecorded instructional material utilizing two or more series of staggered but related recorded phrases and continuous low volume background sounds whose subject matter is substantively related to that of the phrases in order to enhance the listener's interest and the learing process. Further, prior types of prerecorded instructional material, such as shown in the Yamamoto patent, were limited in the type of playback equipment usable with the tape. Also, instructional tapes having background sounds where volume is independently controllable relative to the volume of the recorded phrases have not been available.